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Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China’s new futures market in Shanghai is trading in the Chinese currency, the Yuan, rather than dollars. One reason for dumping the dollar in this regard is that the Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Asset Control is trying to stop countries from buying Iranian petroleum. The Dept of […]

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In Epochal Shift, California Votes for 100% Green Electricity by 2045

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week, the California state legislature voted to mandate that all the state’s electricity come from non-carbon sources (chiefly wind, solar and hydro) by 2045. Since California if it were a country would have the world’s fifth largest economy, and since so many other states are economically integrated with it, […]

Donald Trump

Top 7 Reasons Progressive Andrew Gillum can Defeat “Monkey it Up” DeSantis

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Congressional representative and Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis shocked the nation on Wednesday by warning Florida voters not to “monkey it up” by electing African-American democratic standard-bearer Andrew Gillum, whom he incorrectly described as a “socialist.” Gillum was a Hillary Clinton delegate and voted for her, and his career as […]

Climate Change

Storm Death Toll in Puerto Rico Rivals 9/11: But where is War on Climate Change?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A team of researchers at George Washington University has estimated that excess deaths of Americans in Puerto Rico during and after last year’s Hurricane Maria reached almost 3,000, a number accepted by the governor. In his visit to the island after the hurricane struck, Trump was insufferable. He said that […]

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Muhammad and Islamic Peace Studies: Interview with Juan Cole

Juan Cole

Author Juan Cole Detroit (World Religion News ) – Joseph Richard Preville, American Writer and Book Critic, interviews Juan Cole. Joseph Richard Preville: What problems do historians face when writing about the life and times of Muhammad? What are the principal sources you consulted to write your book? Juan Cole: The problem is that the […]

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Saudi Crown Prince vows Yemeni Children will “Shiver,” but is He on Way Out?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mohamed Bin Salman, the thirty-two-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia, is finding his wings clipped, by his father and by the heavy hand of reality, so severely that some are speculating about whether he can survive politically. Alkhaleejonline.net reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman recently met with his […]

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Iran Parliament Fires Finance Minister, as US Sanctions Bite (Cost Iran $1.1 Trillion)

Juan Cole

Iran’s parliament on Sunday fired the Finance Minister, Massoud Karbasian, in a severe political setback for president Hassan Rouhani. The Iranian rial has fallen dramatically against the dollar in recent months, eating into the purchasing power of Iranian consumers who buy goods from abroad. Supporters of Karbasian in parliament clashed physically with his critics, leading […]

Featured

That Time the Republican Party Made McCain Black to Defeat his Presidential Bid

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Racism is so pervasive in the United States, and white power elites work so hard to stigmatize minorities, that the dominant racists are even sometimes able to marginalize senior white males on grounds of their association with those minorities. The head of the Republican Party will not mourn the passing […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Foreign Policy Hand Crippled by Legal Woes

Juan Cole

Trump’s domestic woes as an unindicted co-conspirator inevitably make him weak on the world stage. Foreign adversaries don’t take seriously a president who looks as though he might be impeached. And they know that presidents under siege in the capital do not have the leisure to attend to foreign affairs with any concentration. Even friends […]